Why do you feed your child? Do you feed him because he needs food? Or do you feed your child to feel good yourself? Many of us feed our children because it makes us feel good. But that is not the best thing to do.
Coming back home to your child after a long day at work is as exciting as it is frightening. You are eager to come back to your child, pull your little one into your arms and smother him/her with your love. But you are also afraid of being rejected. You worry that your child will be angry and upset because you were away all day.
At the end of a stressful day at work – it is scary to think of this kind of additional emotional stress. All you want is smiles and laughter from your child. You want happiness to fill your house and the sounds of joy to echo everywhere.
But you are also enveloped by guilt. The guilt of not looking after your child yourself all day – even if your child has been in very good able hands who have cared for him perfectly well all day.
And so you need to do something for your child. Something to compensate for the care you were unable to give your child all day. And what better way to care for your child than to offer him a healthy meal. A meal cooked and served with love – you think will be the ultimate compensation.
And so you serve a healthy meal.
Your child refuses to eat what you offer. You feel – rejected, dejected and angry. You either blow up in anger or withdraw into yourself in depression. And this drives your child away. Moments that were meant to be full of love – now become moments of anger and bitterness.
Anger, bitterness and rejection are unbearable after all the time you spent away from your baby – and so you offer your child junk food. Junk food thus becomes the ultimate solution. It salvages the situation. Your child begins to love the junk food and so do you. And so you create a picky eater.
Read this to know how a child becomes a picky eater
If you are feeling guilty about the long hours of work that kept you away from your child all day. Don’t try to compensate by conveying your love through food. Remember, after all those hours of separation your child needs food for the soul as much as he needs food for the body. Hug kiss talk and listen. Emotionally satisfied kids don’t need junk food to comfort them
Also read What can I do to make my child like Healthy Food?
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